GST TN theatre owners to go on strike from Monday

Theatre owners in Tamil Nadu have announced an indefinite suspension of movie screenings from July 3 as there is “no clarity” on tax amount that will be levied after the Goods and Services Tax (GST) came into effect on July 1.

Theatres across the state didn’t open bookings till Friday evening. Reason: They will have to impose a 28 per cent GST rate on cinema tickets in addition to the 30% levied by the state government.

The theatre owners decided to cancel all shows from July 3 after the Edappadi Palaniswami government worked around the GST and introduced a 30 per cent municipal tax on cinemas. This would be in addition to the 28 per cent tax levied under GST for tickets that cost over Rs. 100. According to the tax rates decided by the GST Council, cinema tickets priced less than Rs. 100 were to be charged 18 per cent tax.

“The state government should clear the confusion (on how much tax amount theatre owners will be charged) over the weekend. From Monday, all shows across theatres in the state will be suspended,” Abirami Ramanathan, President of the Tamil Nadu Film Chamber of Commerce, told reporters.

“All shows will be cancelled from July 3. We request the state government to come clear on how much tax amount will be levied on theatre owners,” he said.